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On April 4, 1968, a shot rang out in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated. Riots started in many cities in the aftermath and the United States went into mourning. The leader of the Civil Rights movement have been taken out and our nation was in civil unrest. As we celebrate the day named after the man who is looked at as the pivotal stepping piece in bringing equality to all people, I want to look at his immortalized “I have a dream” speech and pick out a few pieces to chew on.

“Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children. It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment.” In the second page of Dr. King’s six-page speech, he makes this statement and I think this can apply to things we are seeing in the world. What if there was equal and fair justice for all of God’s children; all of God’s children being all. It would make things a little simpler, but it would be a great stepping stone for peace in every situation.

The simple thought process of acknowledging us all as an heir to the throne would make our conversations with each other a little different. We would be able to cut to the heart of the matter and move on in most situations. Not taking offense or making offense when we did not understand or agree with someone else’s point of view. Of course, I could be taking this out of context, but if we look at the most famous part of the speech, it begins to make sense.

“I have a dream today ... I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low; the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.”

Strong statements that still ring today. A reality that is not here yet. Yes, now the lines that are drawn seem to be more of a political posturing, but they are real nonetheless. We still have starving children of all colors in America. We still have homeless, we still have the addicted, we still have the unemployed, and we still have the poor. All nationalities, colors, religions and sexes have a struggle, and the struggle is real. Hope is the key. Glory to God is the lock.

Dr. King ends his speech with this. “When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every city and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last, Free at last, Great God almighty, We are free at last.’”

Think about that for a second or two. Let it sink in. I have always thought that this speech was all about the equality between races. It is, of course, but there is a salt in the underlying tone of this speech that might just be giving us an answer to our problems today. Once again, we see God’s children as a place to start. Acknowledging that part of it gives us a new hope. Freedom is not lost if we look to where it really comes from to begin with.

As we celebrate this day off in celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I ask you to truly examine the man who penned and spoke those words, “I have a dream,” and what exactly that means to you. Especially when it refers to your freedom and where and how you received it. I’m Jess saying.